Judgement Days

Never has humanity had such opportunity to judge and critique so many of our fellow humans.
Our media connections offer endless opportunities for judgement, and we greedily gather all of them in,
each broadcast,
each analysis,
each report,
all the daily fodder that provides the grist for our mill of judgement of others,
the broadcasts, analyses, and reports daily spreading out before us providing a litany of the failures and shortcomings of our species.

Judgement is always bad for the soul,
yet from the first message and first flicker of the screen
the daily words and images demand that we cast judgement.

“Judge not lest ye be judged.”
One more commandment we blithely ignore.
We judge the citizens reaching a judgement differing from ours.
We judge the reporters bringing us the reports that we judge.
We judge the pundits pronouncing their judgements,
We judge the judges getting paid to judge.

Let judgement reign!
For how can we not judge?
The events and decisions and policies are too important.
Surely we must in these times suspend the commandment “judge not lest ye be judged”.

So let us at least unleash our judgements based on confirmed facts and verified information and balanced perspectives.

For in fact we cannot suspend the commandment. Our judgements will indeed be judged. We will indeed be judged, and eventually history will do the judging.

More pressingly our hearts now judge us. We know whether we listened. We know whether we gave fair credence. We know whether our biases and prejudices and wishes trumped compassion.

We know to what degree bitterness and anger and fear clouded our judgements, bitterness and anger and fear that grow with each judgement, bitterness and anger and fear that gnaw at our soul.

There is good reason those quick to judge pronounce their judgements with scowling visage and downturned mouth. They know they are next.